cruisinskier

5 minutes ago, Ashland said:

The schedule hasn't opened yet but hoping it's Vancouver with Celebrity...if it's Alaska I might try to just change to RCI. We'll have to check out all options. Thanks

Ashland, any published cruise itinerary would meet the required regulations.  You should have no problem adding an Alaska itinerary once the Eclipse ends in Vancouver. 

And finally, here is a video from our whale watch in Icy Strait point:

We seemed to be very lucky this day with whale tails!!!

The boat we were on was quite unique....it moved at speed to get us out to the whales but once it slowed down, they opened the windows along both sides so every had great views.   You can see here the window is swung in and hooked to the ceiling.

There was a second group of folks from Azamara doing just the whale watch portion of the tour.   There were alot fewer folks on our boat.....

And back to the whales....

It wasn't long before our first humpback sighting!!

We typically plan our own port excursions however today we actually booked through Azamara to do a combined whale and bear tour.   We knew going in the likelihood of seeing bears was minimal given how early in the season we were visiting (i.e. before the salmon were running).  But we were here so we thought we would try.....

We met on the dock:

Our tour boat....

And we were off...

Our first wildlife sighting.....

Monday May 27 - Icy Strait Point (Hoonah)

Today was our first actual port, a stop in Icy Strait Point, an Alaska Native owned-and-operated community, with all profits directly supporting the community of Hoonah, Alaska’s largest Native Tlingit village. 

You can learn more about Icy Strait Point here:  https://icystraitpoint.com/

We were racing with the Celebrity Millenium to get into ISP.   They ended up docking and we were tendering today.

Thanks for sharing!!  Great photos and glad you had a great 1st cruise!   Sounds like cruising may have been a great fit for your family!  Enjoy!

Thanks for the review, and your great photos!!!   Similar to you, I can see us heading back to Alaska as well.   There is just so many options that you can't possibly do them all on one trip!  Thanks again!

Jerry

We ended up seeing 6 or 7 calving events in total.

By now the Golden Princess was sailing onward......

And I will leave you with one final calving video from our day at the Hubbard Glacier....

We were very lucky as we saw yet another calving......

We were now about half a mile from the glacier which was as close as we could get, but the sky was clearing and the detail of the glacier was amazing as you could see the compressed layers.....

And then we heard the loud cracks again.......

By now the Crown Princess looked like it was surrounded by ice....

We continued to see more detail emerge in the glacier, and it was starting to get brighter!

We continued to edge slowly closer

And then we saw our first calving of the glacier.....

We were now close enough where I could zoom in and see the blue in the ice.  It is hard to get perspective but the height of the glacier is roughly equal to a 40 story building 

The Golden Princess was now out of our way and the glacier was all ours to visit

Excitement built as we saw larger chunks of ice in the water....

And we slowly got closer.....

People were starting to gather on our outer decks as we approached the glacier......

And ice was starting to build up in the water.....

We were still a fair distance out from the glacier, but the Golden Princess had moved past the glacier now....

OK, back to the review.....we spent the first night exploring the ship and had dinner in the main dining room.   I have to say the food on Azamara was the best I have ever had at sea!  Still not sure it justified the price but that debate is for another day.....

Sunday May 26, 2019 - Hubbard Glacier

The highlight of our first full day on the Quest was cruising into Hubbard Glacier.......we had a very overcast day however they had actually delayed our time as the weather was supposed to clear up....it did brighten some while we were around the glacier!

In the distance, we could see Hubbard Glacier, and the Golden Princess 

Our pilot was just arriving to guide us through to the glacier...

Drop off complete!!

On 7/6/2019 at 7:50 AM, masterdrago said:

Great shots of the Moose and the interior of the Azamara! Thanks again for sharing. Many folks ask about what camera to bring. This shows that many unexpected shots walk right into you, so phone works super. I took more gear than I used but luckily, I left some of the slider stuff at home. I did discover that my GoPro takes great pix as well as make video.

 

When I dropped PB, I got all my images off there site with their feature to zip them as a single file. I'm now getting regular email from them that my account is over limit but the account no longer exist. I'm thinking it's just a scammer.

Agree.   I used a combination of quick shots on my iPhone10r and my real camera, a Sony rx10iv.   I have never really been one for interchangeable lens, etc and usually used higher end point & shoot cameras.   Last year I  finally graduated to a bridge camera with a ultra-zoom lens.   I have had no regrets with this camera but am still learning.... https://www.dpreview.com/products/sony/compacts/sony_dscrx10iv

15 hours ago, Coolcruise02 said:

Enjoying your review and awesome pics!

Thanks!   So much more to come!!

We see the photos now!!!  Thanks for sharing and I look forward to following along!

More of the Quest.....

The Living Room

The Discoveries bar in front of the main dining room

Continuing the tour.....

The Drawing Room / Library

Prime C

Aqualina